Dialogue ‘is the best way forward’
By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 11th August 2008
BAHRAIN must tackle the real issues behind unrest amongst the nation’s youth, say community leaders and activists.
Their call follows the pardoning of 225 prisoners and meetings with community and religious leaders, during which the leadership called for an end to violence across the country.
Dialogue ‘is the best way forward’
By GEOFFREY BEW
Published: 11th August 2008
BAHRAIN must tackle the real issues behind unrest amongst the nation’s youth, say community leaders and activists.
Their call follows the pardoning of 225 prisoners and meetings with community and religious leaders, during which the leadership called for an end to violence across the country.
His Majesty King Hamad, Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and security officials have urged religious and political leaders to steer young people away from violent protest and from outside influences.
A special watchdog panel has been set up under the King’s orders to ensure that sermons in mosques foster national unity, and he has called for “constructive, cordial and frank dialogue”.
Community leaders and activists say the issues behind disturbances that the new initiative aims to stop are sectarian and sexual discrimination, poor standards of living, unemployment, housing and others.
They dismissed suggestions that rioters were being organised under a foreign agenda, claiming that they were spontaneous outbursts due to widely held grievances.
Bahrain Transparency Society (BTS) president Abdulnabi Al Ekri described the allegations of foreign influence as an “over reaction” to sporadic violence.
“I do not think there is an organised rioting network,” he said.
“I think the protests are reactions to incidents such as the verdict (earlier this year) on Bahrainis found guilty of rioting in December last year.
“For many reasons, this has been going on for the last two years and I do not think there has been a dramatic change.
“There are problems in the country and some of this is the legacy of the past.”
He also blamed unemployment and housing issues, along with how police handled demonstrations.
Mr Al Ekri said the opposition, including political societies, human rights activists, lawyers and religious leaders should hold discussions and present solutions to the government.
His comments were echoed by vice-president of the now-dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) Nabeel Rajab.
“We cannot put the blame for our problems on other countries and if we do that we will never solve the real issues,” he said.
“First, the government has to admit that we have a problem.
“This is much better than blaming external influences for our problems.
“The government has to sit down and solve the problems with its own people.
“Sectarian discrimination is one of the biggest problems in the country.
“Who are these outside influences? Are they ghosts?
“We do not have any political society or group which has any foreign political agenda.
“All the political and human rights societies and activists are loyal to their land, no one should doubt that.”
MP Jassim Al Saeedi had claimed on August 3 that a number of Bahrainis in the UK had acquired British nationality and were waging propaganda campaigns to undermine the country’s development.
The pro-government Al Asala bloc member said he had been told that people had gone to Britain alleging “political persecution”, received British passports and began attacking Bahrain’s democracy.
However, Mr Al Saeedi told the GDN he was unable to say exactly who was responsible. “It could be any foreign influence. It could be in the UK or Iran – people who are running unlicensed societies or forums from anywhere in the world,” he said.
“They try to influence children for political gains with wrong political ideas.
“These people want to create security unrest in Bahrain.
“That is why the King had issued the statement that Bahrain will not accept any outside influence, ideas or customs.
“In Bahrain, we are in an Islamic, Arab system that respects its constitution and 98.4 per cent of people voted for it. So they should respect its rules.”
But Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS) assistant general-secretary Dr Abdulla Al Deerazi said rioting had more to do with the country’s internal problems.
“So many people are facing economic problems because of inflation and sexual, ethnic and religious discrimination,” he said.
“Is that something from outside?
“If the environment inside the country is healthy and citizens feel they are equal in all aspects of life, I do not think external influences would be that strong.”
Dr Al Deerazi said all countries were susceptible to outside influences through the Internet and globalisation, but he did not feel foreign groups or societies were attempting to create instability.
“I do not see that on the ground,” he said.
“There is no concrete evidence to support this idea.
“If they know somebody is doing something like this, why don’t they prosecute them if they have evidence?”
Dr Al Deerazi also did not believe religious clerics could be accused of inciting riots, saying they only happened in response to arrests, allegations of abuse and perceived injustice.
He called for the government to open serious dialogue with the opposition to prevent violence from re-igniting.
“We will not be able to solve these problems by ignoring each other,” said Dr Al Deerazi.
“Bahrain is a small country and there is a huge surplus of oil money and this should be directed towards sustainable development, infrastructure, creating jobs and abolishing discrimination.
“The government has the power to do so and if they take these steps, it will be clear who does not want progress for the country.”
Dr Al Deerazi said the country was approaching a crucial time in its development, similar to 2001, when the King introduced political reforms. “It brought back trust to the people (in the government) and now we are almost in a similar situation,” he said.
“We need to have some very large and serious initiatives by the government to leave those accused of violence in the cold.
“No one will listen to them if these developments happen.”
National Democratic Action Society (NDAS) secretary-general Ebrahim Sharif Al Sayed believes allegations of foreign influence could alienate some people, by questioning their loyalty to their country.
Mr Al Sayed said people in Bahrain may sympathise with regimes from around the world, but that did not mean they would deliberately try to create instability.
He said proof of a lack of foreign interference came out in the trial of more than a dozen people arrested during riots in December last year.
“If the conspiracy was true, it would have been exposed in these trials,” he said.
“They keep saying these things but the government has to come up with the proof.
“If this is happening, we should expose this conspiracy with other foreign governments.”
In March, the Interior Ministry said Bahraini activists were using Britain as a platform from which to orchestrate unrest at home.
It said vague British laws on political asylum were partly responsible for the problem and it was feared some people had forged “illegal contacts” with compatriots in Lebanon and Iran.
However, British Embassy officials last week hit back at allegations from Mr Al Saeedi that the UK was being used as a launch pad for a political campaign against the Bahrain government.
Embassy officials described Mr Al Saeedi’s comments as “inaccurate” and a “gross distortion of the UK-Bahrain relationship”.
Iranian Embassy officials also strongly denied suggestions the country was in any way involved in inciting tension in Bahrain.
“This kind of suggestion is totally wrong,” said a spokesman.
“Iran and Bahrain have official relations and our relationship is good.
“Our foreign ministers regularly travel to each country.
“We do not interfere in Bahrain’s internal matters and it is not in our interests to do that.”
He added that no Iranian could be accused of being involved in such acts either.
The GDN was unable to contact MPs from Bahrain’s largest political party Al Wefaq.
However, the society’s public relations consultant Faheem Abdulla strongly refuted claims that people with foreign agendas had been stirring up trouble.
“We are in Bahrain, we are Bahraini and we are Arabs and we are proud of this,” he said.
“We are against vandalism and burning private and public property and we only support peaceful political activity.
“We insist that people respect the country’s rules and institutions.”
Mr Abdulla called for a national dialogue to discuss the issues facing the country such as, housing, unemployment and how the police handled peaceful demonstrations.
geoff@gdn.com.bh
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© Gulf Daily News
